Cheated migrant workers left with no choice but prayer
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At the entrance of the Huayuankou (Garden Gate), a famous scenic spot in Zhengzhou, stands a huge sculpture of the God of Rivers. Built right by the bank of the Yellow River, the sculpture adds a touch of mystery and grandeur to the capital of Henan Province.
But recently, some migrant workers discovered a better way to utilize it.
On October 11, some 30 migrant workers gathered in front of the sculpture to present the god with a sacrifice of fruit and two roosters.
After a series of devout prayers and the burning of paper money, two young men killed the chickens and sprayed the blood in front of the sculpture.
Finally, they set off a long string of firecrackers to pay their respects and petition the god to answer their prayer.
Mao Guojun, the organizer of the sacrificial rite, told reporters from a local newspaper that the group are representatives from a team of migrant workers who had worked on a Yellow River bank reinforcement project.
The purpose of the rite was to ask the god to help them get their unpaid back wages from three years ago, which total to 6.75 million yuan ($1 million), so that they can go back to their hometown and start the autumn harvest.
According to Mao, he and other 60 migrant workers worked to reinforce the levees on part of the Yellow River, from 2005 to January 2007. Three years have passed, but the local construction company still hasn't paid them what they're owed.
In this society, desperate people are capable of anything even petitioning to the higher authorities for help, which risks being labeled and locked up as a mentally disturbed patient. Rather than going to the government or taking legal action, some people resort to the power of prayer.
Did the migrant workers, most of whom dressed up to petition the god, have any other choice?
